[0:00] Alright, welcome to the City

[0:01] of New Carrollton Council meeting Hybrid.

[0:04] Tonight is February 4th, Wednesday, February 4th, 2026.

[0:08] And I have no one in the audience here.

[0:10] Is there anyone with a hand raised online Maisha? No.

[0:13] That we can go right into our presenters.

[0:15] And the first one is Bolton, interview

[0:19] with Bolton Rewards.

[0:22] What? The super rewards.

[0:23] There's no one online with a hand raised.

[0:28] There's no one online.

[0:30] Not with a hand raised or anything.

[0:31] Oh, okay. Well, Maisha told me that. Mm-hmm.

[0:33] So we're gonna go to the Bolton's boat.

[0:35] Can you hook them in Maisha? Are they There

[0:38] Is someone From Bolton Rewards online?

[0:53] Maybe we should skip to the next person.

[0:56] The next person's scheduled

[0:57] for 20 minutes later. They're asking seven 30.

[0:59] Oh, Well,

[1:02] I'll take this moment just to excuse myself for a second.

[1:03] I need my glasses. Bear with me.

[1:15] Thank you.

[1:27] Well, I made it all the way from Florida.

[1:29] I'm 15 minutes from the house.

[1:30] It stuck in traffic on the beltway.

[1:35] Well, stay safe. I'm just shocked to see the snow.

[1:41] Yeah, if you drive on some

[1:42] side streets, you'll see a lot more. Yeah.

[1:45] Yep. I walk straight on.

[1:48] You'll see some as you pull into your neighborhood.

[1:51] Well, ma you'll know when they come on, right?

[1:53] We'll, if they do. Mm-hmm.

[1:55] So we can move to, um, item number six

[1:59] and do the council announcements while we wait.

[2:02] Okay. And I'll start with, uh,

[2:07] Brianna have any announcements to share tonight?

[2:09] Um, I don't have any announcements other than, uh,

[2:12] if you haven't heard

[2:13] and you're interested in knowing Prince George's County

[2:16] schools have announced they're gonna be on a two hour delay

[2:18] for the remainder of the week.

[2:20] It is. We are all hopefully optimistic that we'll go back

[2:23] to full-time school on Monday.

[2:25] Uh, please stay in touch with your county council

[2:29] or school board reps if you have any questions about, uh,

[2:32] after school activities, transportation or, uh, busing.

[2:36] Uh, but that's the only announcement I have.

[2:39] Okay. Uh, Cynthia, you have any announcements to share?

[2:42] Okay. First, I would like

[2:43] to say happy Black History Month, everybody.

[2:47] And secondly, I, I,

[2:49] I made the statement last night and the people made it.

[2:52] Again, we need to get those, uh, department education,

[2:54] not department, um, education, PG County

[2:58] educators back down there that, uh, discussed

[3:00] with us when we sold those schools to them

[3:02] so they could tell us what's the update.

[3:04] And, uh, like they said, the parking,

[3:07] the school thing and stuff like that.

[3:09] That's all.

[3:11] Okay. Agnel,

[3:13] if you're on, do you have any announcements for us?

[3:16] Yes. Good evening. Um, I want

[3:19] to publicize the city, the city council town hall

[3:25] on February 14 at two o'clock at the library.

[3:30] And god willing, I will be there in person.

[3:35] That's it, Mr. Chair.

[3:37] Okay. Outstanding. Lincoln.

[3:39] Um, I'm gonna go ahead of you,

[3:40] but we're doing council announcements

[3:42] because the first consultant hasn't shown up online

[3:46] yet, and it's gonna be virtual.

[3:47] Okay. So take take your time

[3:49] because I have a few announcements.

[3:50] March the fifth. I encourage the staff who can do it

[3:55] and the council members to participate

[3:57] and read across America at, at, uh, Carrollton Elementary.

[4:03] I think everyone's been invited.

[4:04] I know have I have been for the last 10 years,

[4:06] and I go and read to the kids.

[4:07] Always enjoy it. Read across America's March the fifth.

[4:10] If you've been invited, please respond one way or the other.

[4:12] And if you haven't been invited, you

[4:14] contact the people over there.

[4:15] And I'm sure you would like to welcome all of us.

[4:18] Um, council's schedule.

[4:20] Uh, I'd like to treat the selection

[4:25] of a consultant for the compensation study

[4:27] to be a dedicated meeting next week.

[4:30] We don't have any meetings scheduled,

[4:32] but I'd like to call on for Wednesday,

[4:35] February 11th at seven o'clock or one hour only.

[4:39] I think we can do it in an hour.

[4:40] And everybody voice the contractors

[4:42] they like and don't like.

[4:43] And let's get our views outta here

[4:44] and get ready for a vote at the

[4:47] legislative session next week.

[4:48] How's that sound? Oh,

[4:51] Okay. Wednesdays,

[4:52] Wednesday's my birthday.

[4:54] I was going out for dinner. How,

[4:55] what time would this be and how long?

[4:58] Seven. Seven o'clock for one hour.

[5:00] Cut right into your dinner. Right.

[5:03] Can anybody make it six? No.

[5:06] Uh, yeah, we can do six in that one.

[5:08] Make sure. Make sure, make sure. Well,

[5:11] Lincoln, Lincoln might have probably

[5:12] Six. Yeah, six is

[5:13] very challenging for me as well. Okay.

[5:15] What did you say? Virtual? Is it virtual or hybrid?

[5:19] I'm open to either, this is just for us to discuss this,

[5:22] but it has to be done in public setting. But

[5:24] Mr. Chair, do you really

[5:25] think it's gonna take an hour?

[5:27] I don't, but I like to allow time for people

[5:29] to voice their views.

[5:31] Um, I just feel like it could be an agenda

[5:33] item at the next meeting.

[5:35] I mean, I've been taking notes the whole time

[5:36] and so I'll be prepared to, to speak very quickly.

[5:43] Okay. Well, this is, uh, something i, I wanted to do,

[5:47] but maybe we shouldn't do it.

[5:48] So let's pass on that and we can discuss that later

[5:50] because I have one more announcement

[5:52] and then link into announcements.

[5:54] And you're with Bolton? Mm-hmm. Oh, welcome.

[5:56] Good to see you. Uh,

[5:58] I have a couple announcements related to the scouts.

[6:00] The, uh, the Secretary of War, PG said, came

[6:04] after the scouts today and said since they, uh,

[6:07] they admitted girls, they violated the DEI.

[6:10] So federal funding is cut off for scouts.

[6:14] Oh God. And if you don't think scouts

[6:16] are, I'm a scout assistant.

[6:18] Scoutmaster. If you don't think scouts are funded

[6:20] by the federal government, they're not a lot.

[6:22] But they do have a jamboree each year.

[6:24] And the jamboree is usually in the DC area.

[6:26] It's in West Virginia this year.

[6:27] And the federal government provides troops, tents, pots,

[6:32] army supplies and personnel to help with the scouts.

[6:34] And, and he says

[6:36] that if you're gonna let girls into the scouts,

[6:38] that violates DEI.

[6:40] So that funding's cut off,

[6:41] but that's, um, I still think scouting,

[6:44] that's my announcement is it's still a good program

[6:46] that scouts meet on Tuesday night

[6:48] at the Elks Lodge in Kenworth,

[6:49] if anybody's interested in scouting.

[6:51] Which also leads me to something that, um, I won't be able

[6:55] to announce again at a council meeting

[6:58] because our next council meeting will probably be the

[7:01] Wednesday after the holiday.

[7:04] And on the holiday, which is what day is that? February?

[7:09] What's the, what's the holiday? Maisha? Yes. 16th, the 18th.

[7:14] The holidays the 16th. Oh, holiday.

[7:15] The 16th is a Monday

[7:17] and we're not gonna meet on the holiday.

[7:19] And then that 16th is the day

[7:21] that the scouts will have their annual chili supper.

[7:24] So that'll be at Elk Lodge from five until nine.

[7:27] And please feel free to come over and get a ticket

[7:29] and eat chili with the scouts.

[7:31] Read across America Scouts

[7:33] and we'll talk about the council thing later.

[7:34] Now that, uh, Lincoln,

[7:36] you have any quick announcements before?

[7:37] I actually don't have any announcements, Mr.

[7:39] Chair, other than to continue

[7:40] to be careful in this bad weather.

[7:42] I'm just gonna be very, very cold this weekend.

[7:44] So please chuck in your neighbors

[7:45] and make sure everyone's safe. Thank

[7:47] You. Thank you. And

[7:48] now we'll welcome Ton please.

[7:52] Where would you like me to?

[7:53] Uh, I think the podium's the best for everybody.

[7:55] The camera can pick you up

[7:56] there, if you don't mind standing.

[7:57] Is that okay? If you

[8:02] prefer to sit, we have lots of seats tonight too.

[8:05] I noticed that. So bad weather keeps people home.

[8:08] Do you have a presentation that you wanted to share on the

[8:10] Screen? You know, it, it's, we

[8:11] were told we have five minutes

[8:12] for a presentation and then it's q and a.

[8:15] So for five minutes it really didn't seem to make sense.

[8:18] Okay. Um, I'm more than happy to kind of speak

[8:21] to the project and outline those major.

[8:24] I was the one that sent those guidelines.

[8:25] 'cause I really didn't want to go through the resumes

[8:27] and what the firm has done and the history.

[8:29] I wanted to hear what your approach was to the project.

[8:31] So I wanted go limit it to that.

[8:33] If you can't do that in five minutes, take a little longer

[8:35] and you have until at least seven 30. So,

[8:38] Okay. Great.

[8:39] Um, well, I think, I think as it's,

[8:41] it's outlined in terms of the project steps that are there,

[8:44] the, uh, the way the request for proposal was written,

[8:48] it's fairly clear, um, what the, the, the goals are of the

[8:53] engagement and what the projects are.

[8:56] Um, I think for us, the the first piece project A,

[8:59] the actual employee pay audit,

[9:01] when we talk about the project planning for that, uh,

[9:05] I think a big portion of that's going

[9:06] to be working out the communication protocols, uh, for,

[9:10] for this, this project A, but then also for B and C as well.

[9:15] Um, I think part of the question for us will be, um, uh,

[9:19] what, what, what do we report to the council on

[9:22] and how directly, and then what do we report

[9:25] with administration on and, and how directly

[9:27] and how those two work together.

[9:29] Uh, we do this very frequently, um, as we're doing, uh,

[9:33] performance management

[9:35] or sort of process management for a city manager, you know,

[9:38] working with the council to help determine, uh,

[9:41] the city manager's, uh, performance for a year in pay.

[9:43] So it's, it's a common thing for us to understand how

[9:46] to balance out the, that relationship.

[9:49] So, um, the actual pay audit is,

[9:51] is really just digging in as was specified.

[9:54] Um, looking at the past several years in terms

[9:57] of what's actually occurred, uh, at the time,

[9:59] what was approved to occur, what the, the, the policy was

[10:03] and looking for deviations.

[10:04] And, um, part of that will also then trying to,

[10:08] to understand if there is a deviation, is there some,

[10:12] some time-based proration

[10:14] or some piece that's like that to it.

[10:16] Um, but ultimately being able to report back

[10:19] and, um, uh, be able to explain any deviations,

[10:22] but hopefully, um, hopefully give counsel, uh,

[10:25] some confidence that policy was followed and,

[10:29] and what what occurred was what was appropriate.

[10:31] Um, we'll come in with a very objective perspective on that.

[10:36] And, um, you know, for us, uh, we, we tend to prefer

[10:41] to be able to take resources

[10:42] and materials, uh, back to our shop to, to be able

[10:46] to work on our normal tools and those sorts of things.

[10:49] But not knowing data availability,

[10:52] the format it would be in some of those pieces.

[10:55] It might mean that we do need

[10:56] to spend a couple days on site here, uh, trying to, to work

[10:59] through the records today.

[11:01] Most records can be digitized if they're

[11:03] not already electronic.

[11:05] So it's easy enough to, uh, kind of work through that.

[11:08] Um, as I said,

[11:10] I think a big piece is gonna be the

[11:11] communication protocol with that.

[11:13] And, you know, if we have trouble getting information, um,

[11:17] who do we turn to, uh, to, to really kind of push the issue

[11:20] to try and collect that data.

[11:23] Uh, at the same time,

[11:24] we would wanna start the organizational assessment.

[11:27] And my colleague from Matrix,

[11:29] I think she was planning on trying to be on

[11:31] with us about seven 30,

[11:33] but I'm more than happy to, to answer, um, the process.

[11:37] Uh, we actually worked a few, a couple years ago, uh,

[11:41] with Tacoma Park, uh, as I joined group, um, doing it

[11:45] as a broad organizational assessment and a classification

[11:48] and compensation program.

[11:50] Uh, we have assembled, uh, technical specialists, um,

[11:54] in Vance in law enforcement, uh, that are part

[11:57] of the Matrix team to do the organizational assessment.

[12:00] Uh, there's a lot of discovery

[12:02] with management and administration.

[12:05] Uh, I think this is part of

[12:07] what we would wanna understand is

[12:09] what role the council wants to play in sort

[12:12] of setting the stage in terms of service delivery, uh,

[12:15] expectation of constituents, those sorts of things.

[12:18] You know, it's, it's kind of an if then statement.

[12:21] You know, if if the council wants to be able

[12:23] to serve the community this way, then this is the way some

[12:26] of the service delivery should occur.

[12:29] So it's, it's not just there's one way to,

[12:31] to do this particular task.

[12:35] There's a lot of overlap, um, in the organizational analysis

[12:39] and the job analysis that we will utilize in,

[12:42] in the third project, which is the

[12:44] classification and compensation study.

[12:46] So, as we mentioned in, in the beginning, all

[12:49] of the projects won't finish at the same time,

[12:52] but we're gonna kick them all off this.

[12:55] So, you know, all of the, the benefit of doing the audit,

[13:00] we'll use that as part

[13:01] of the classification and compensation setting.

[13:03] So we'll be able to set up the routines

[13:05] to make sure we understand who's making what, you know,

[13:08] what the roles are and, and those sorts of things.

[13:11] So, you know, the key for us is,

[13:13] is I think the deliverables are fairly clear, is trying

[13:16] to get the project done efficiently

[13:20] from a financial perspective, which I think we proposed.

[13:23] Um, but also, so it, it, um, uh,

[13:28] is less of a burden on whomever's part of it for, um,

[13:32] the city, whether it's the council administration or,

[13:35] or supervisors, managers, um, those groups.

[13:38] So that's kind of our approach, you know, and,

[13:41] and what we're proposing, uh, would love to, to talk further

[13:45] questions and, and be able to, um,

[13:48] make sure there's a joint understanding for sure.

[13:50] Are are, excuse me, you're Dan.

[13:52] I'm Dan. Okay. Dan. Yeah, I'm sorry.

[13:53] I shoulda introduced myself. Yeah, I'm, I'm actually the,

[13:56] the president of Global Awards.

[13:57] Thank you. Did you come here from Townson?

[14:00] Um, I did. I did.

[14:01] I actually, I lived in Cincinnati, but

[14:03] whenever I, I I lived in Northern Virginia for a long time,

[14:06] so whenever I come back,

[14:07] I spend some time in our corporate offices in house. So

[14:11] I'm not gonna start with the questions, I just wanted

[14:13] to clarify who you were, and if somebody comes on at seven

[14:15] 30, we'll make time to hear from them if they have things

[14:17] to, but for now,

[14:19] I'm gonna let the council ask some questions.

[14:21] Sure. And I'll start with, uh, Cynthia.

[14:23] Cynthia, are you prepared for open questions?

[14:28] She's getting a bath. What'd she say? She's

[14:31] Getting run by.

[14:34] She, Cynthia, miss Cynthia,

[14:35] you're on mute if you're talking.

[14:39] Cynthia was just in Florida, so she's

[14:41] Now, now can you hear me?

[14:43] Yes. Yes, we can. Oh, I was saying,

[14:46] I really didn't get enough information to ask questions,

[14:48] so I'll stay mute until I hear something

[14:51] Come out that I'm interested in. Thank you. Okay.

[14:54] I know ag acknowledge read this,

[14:55] Agnel, you have your questions Ready?

[14:59] Good evening. Um,

[15:03] I wanna refer the other council members to page 18

[15:07] of Bolton's proposal.

[15:09] Can you speak to the market survey

[15:14] and how you intend to conduct that,

[15:18] identify the peers

[15:20] and also the budgeted 20 hour,

[15:25] 20 half hour meetings.

[15:27] Um, talk about those two components of the project please.

[15:33] So the, uh, 20 half hour meetings

[15:36] are, um, utilized.

[15:39] What are the terms that gets thrown around is a desk audit,

[15:42] but if, if we feel like we need to meet with an employee,

[15:45] uh, employee manager directly

[15:48] to make sure we understand the job, that's when we meet

[15:51] with the employee to make sure we

[15:53] understand what their role is.

[15:54] Um, it's hard to know how many of those we'll need to have,

[15:58] but as we looked at the, the, the budget, um,

[16:00] we included 20 of those.

[16:02] Um, as part of the scope of the study, uh, in terms

[16:07] of the survey process, we have something that's called our,

[16:10] our total rewards data exchange.

[16:12] And it's something that we use in the, um,

[16:15] the government sector.

[16:16] It allows us to, uh, get the highest level of participation.

[16:21] So we will work with you and,

[16:23] and this will be one of those communication questions.

[16:26] Um, how, how, who's, who has what input in terms of

[16:30] what the peers are basically, you know, um,

[16:32] I think we can come up with a starting point from some

[16:35] of our other studies, um, in the, the DC metro area.

[16:39] But certainly we would want, uh, council to bless and,

[16:43] and approve what that list is, um, who we're comparing to.

[16:47] And then, um, you may

[16:49] or may not want administration to have input.

[16:52] Uh, usually you do.

[16:54] Um, and certainly we would welcome that

[16:56] to understand who those peers are.

[16:58] Um, from a competitive's perspective,

[17:01] we actually will reach out to, there's 15 organizations

[17:06] that are going to be invited.

[17:08] Uh, we'll contact them directly, usually through their,

[17:10] their heads of HR or Chief HR officers

[17:14] and get from them person by person, pay data, you know,

[17:18] it's unidentified by name.

[17:20] Uh, but we get person by person information in terms of

[17:23] what their jobs are, departments are, pay rates,

[17:28] variable pay, um, a lot of those other components that,

[17:31] that allow us to, uh,

[17:32] really predict the market very accurately.

[17:35] Um, and, and from our perspective

[17:38] as compensation professionals in, in a,

[17:41] a very statistically valid way, um, as,

[17:44] as a, as an approach.

[17:46] Did that help answer the question?

[17:49] Yes. Um, in your experience, how willing are these peers,

[17:55] uh, willing to commit the time to move onto surveys?

[18:00] Because I understand this would be without any particular

[18:02] compensation to the organizations we would

[18:06] be reaching out to. Right?

[18:08] Well, there is, there is compensation in the sense

[18:11] that we will summarize the results at the end,

[18:15] and that way we would include data from, from the city,

[18:18] from New Carrollton and give them a participant's report.

[18:21] So they would get the results in a very summarized fashion,

[18:25] um, to, to be able to use for their own analysis, uh,

[18:30] if they wanted to do that, I will, I will say we're, we,

[18:33] we tend to be very good at it based on how we collect data.

[18:37] It's not a lot of matching.

[18:38] All they really have to do is get to know Bolton,

[18:40] and in this area, they will, so that they have confidence.

[18:43] We're gonna treat their data confidentially.

[18:46] Um, it's not going to get out to others.

[18:48] So from there, it's usually kind of a download of their,

[18:51] My friend.

[18:55] Good evening. Sorry, go ahead.

[19:00] No, I, I, I think, I think that was a, a good way to,

[19:03] to make me stop.

[19:04] That's good.

[19:06] Um, sorry, it was an interruption, uh,

[19:11] expected interruption here.

[19:13] Um, are you, I wanna let you finish

[19:16] before I do the follow up question.

[19:19] I think I did. Um, unless,

[19:20] unless I didn't answer your question.

[19:23] No, you did. Um,

[19:26] how confident are you on the timeline proposed of 12

[19:31] to 14 weeks in completing the three phases?

[19:36] Uh, I'm very confident based on those areas

[19:38] that Bolton has control over, um,

[19:41] there are certain areas like getting the,

[19:43] the management meetings scheduled, um,

[19:46] with the city administration and, uh, council members.

[19:51] Uh, certainly there are priorities other than the study

[19:54] that, that the city will have.

[19:56] And we can't force you to meet within

[19:58] that timeframe necessarily.

[20:00] So that's why we have the caveat around, you know, uh,

[20:04] scheduling meetings on a timely basis,

[20:06] providing information on a timely basis.

[20:08] And we're not looking for urgency.

[20:10] It's just you, you can't be strung out too far, for sure.

[20:14] Okay. And, uh, lastly,

[20:17] and, um, please excuse me if I'm not remembering the

[20:21] complete proposal, uh, completely or accurately.

[20:25] Do you, uh, provide any support

[20:29] after the final report it's delivered when the city

[20:33] is actually into the implementation

[20:34] of all the recommendations,

[20:36] or that would be an additional, uh, commitment task to

[20:41] engage Bolton with?

[20:44] We, we provide technical support, um, endless phone calls,

[20:49] uh, uh, in terms of, of, depending on

[20:52] what actually gets implemented in terms

[20:54] of the recommended compensation system or,

[20:57] or, you know, organizational structure

[20:59] changes, those sorts of things.

[21:01] Uh, there is a limit to that.

[21:03] And depending on what is needed, if, if it's a lot

[21:06] of hands-on or something, it is something

[21:08] that would be outta scope of this study.

[21:10] It's just too hard to predict, you know, ultimately

[21:13] what assistance the city would need.

[21:15] Um, either communicating the program, um, kind of getting in

[21:20] and, and looking at at other software solutions potentially.

[21:24] It's just, it's, it's such a broad scale, broad scope.

[21:27] It'd be very hard to get our arms

[21:28] around at this point in terms

[21:29] of financially what that would be.

[21:32] But what, what can you offer as part of the project

[21:37] if Bolton is engaged

[21:39] after that final report is delivered in some months

[21:44] or weeks go by

[21:45] and the cities into the getting ready

[21:49] to implement whatever recommendations

[21:53] As the city would be refining any particular

[21:55] recommendation we made and, and making it specific.

[21:59] Uh, we'll continue to have meetings, have discussions, um,

[22:04] you know, provide very quick, uh, email responses.

[22:08] All of those. We have probably have seven different, uh,

[22:12] clients right now that are sort of in that phase.

[22:15] And, um, those are all part of any ongoing relationship.

[22:19] So it's, it's helping them understand, um,

[22:23] the ways to communicate.

[22:24] We'll do a lot of review of communication materials.

[22:28] So, um, what I've found is it's usually, um,

[22:33] fairly clear to the client and, and Bolton,

[22:36] but fairly clear to the client,

[22:38] what's an actual more major task, you know, that

[22:41] that requires a, a, a lift

[22:43] and something that might be out scope.

[22:45] It's, it's usually understood.

[22:48] Thank you so much. Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

[22:51] And let me go to Lincoln. You ready? Lincoln?

[22:53] Any questions, Brian? Okay.

[22:57] Let Brian go last. Oh, okay. First one. Very good.

[23:00] Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you,

[23:02] Dan, for your presentation.

[23:03] I just have a couple of questions.

[23:04] Actually, my colleague took two questions off of my list.

[23:08] Um, but I noticed that you 40 years of experience

[23:11] and you have 150 member staff, which is really great.

[23:14] I was impressed by that. And you've also worked

[23:17] with municipalities here in Prince George's County already,

[23:19] including Greenbelt and Bowie.

[23:21] That was impressive to me as well. Is that

[23:22] Correct? Yeah, as

[23:23] well as, um, uh, I, I could number of, um,

[23:27] clients we have on the benefits

[23:29] and actuarial side, uh, are all over the area.

[23:33] Um, surprised that that, uh,

[23:37] is not one of our clients, frankly.

[23:39] Very,

[23:45] which I've probably heard a little bit about.

[23:47] What, I'm hoping that you can go into a little bit more

[23:49] detail, the comp managers database.

[23:53] Mm-hmm. As I understand it,

[23:54] there are 500,000 records in it based on what I read

[23:58] and your proposal

[23:59] and how it will help you complete the project here

[24:03] for the city council to move forward.

[24:05] So it'll be very specific, really, it'll be populated

[24:09] during the, um, the audit.

[24:11] We'll use data on employees jobs, uh, those sorts of things,

[24:16] uh, to bring it into it.

[24:17] It's a system that we use to, uh, classify jobs,

[24:22] uh, job descriptions if necessary, uh, to, uh,

[24:26] develop pay structures and grading and evaluation.

[24:30] So it's, it's, I like to describe it as a really,

[24:33] really robust, uh, Excel workbook, uh, with a lot of tables,

[24:37] but it's an access database, so it manages the data well,

[24:42] uh, we have those 500,000 records of published survey data,

[24:47] so we're going to do the custom survey of peers,

[24:50] and we'll bring those results into it.

[24:52] But already in the database, there's data from, um, uh,

[24:56] Willis Towers Watson.

[24:58] There's data from, uh, Mercer.

[25:01] We have the National Recreation

[25:03] and Parks Association, um, you know, for water utilities,

[25:07] for golf courses, um, all of these other sources

[25:10] that are already published.

[25:12] And then there is a, a, a source

[25:13] that's from the local HR association that is one of the best

[25:18] local sources that you could find around the country

[25:21] of the DC market.

[25:23] So for all of those jobs that, uh, are,

[25:26] are non-governmental, that, that might fit, uh,

[25:30] those are certainly some resources we could use to do

[25:32] that kind of matching as well.

[25:35] Thank you for the clarity in the detail response.

[25:37] The only question I have is, can you explain to me

[25:40] what the career stream whole job evaluation

[25:44] is and what it entails?

[25:46] It is a series of job, families and career levels,

[25:49] and it's what we use as a classification tool.

[25:52] So, um, we would start by, um, taking,

[25:57] you know, your, your head of finance, for example.

[26:00] Um, that role would fall into our finance family, um,

[26:05] based on the size of the city.

[26:07] Um, we know that would be a management role,

[26:09] but we have five levels of management

[26:12] that are progressively more responsible

[26:14] and have a bigger impact.

[26:16] So we would match your job to that level of finance.

[26:21] So a, a, a director level

[26:23] or certainly could be something more than that, you know,

[26:27] depending on how you treat the role.

[26:28] What that allows us to do is both match it to market as well

[26:33] as as developed career progressions.

[26:35] So, um, when, when Matrix,

[26:38] and I know Jen Winter is on the line now, um,

[26:41] as they do the, the, the, the organizational assessment, one

[26:45] of the things that we try and align are, are those,

[26:47] those management levels of, of department heads

[26:50] and size of departments, some of those scope items.

[26:53] And it fits in well with the, the level systems.

[26:56] When you get into support roles

[26:58] or individual contributor, uh, professional roles,

[27:02] it's a built in mechanism to help develop career levels.

[27:05] Um, it certainly, it needs to be balanced with, with budget

[27:09] and, and what's approved from a position perspective,

[27:12] but it does help align some career

[27:14] path and, and have that built.

[27:17] Thank you, sir. Yeah, absolutely. I have no further

[27:19] Questions, Mr. Chair, before

[27:20] I go to Brianna, Jen is on the line.

[27:22] Jen, can you hear us?

[27:25] Hello? Yes, I can. Thank you. Okay.

[27:27] And if you hear the next, we, two

[27:29] of us are gonna ask questions now, three of us already have.

[27:32] If you have Dan, if you want her to jump in,

[27:34] if she's the appropriate responder, that's fine.

[27:36] Thanks for being part of the conversation, Jen.

[27:38] I will go to Brianna. Brianna hasn't had a chance.

[27:40] Do you have any questions, Brianna?

[27:42] Yes. Uh, bear with me one second.

[27:44] I noticed in, uh, your, uh, project, uh,

[27:49] response that you've worked with a lot of our peer cities,

[27:52] uh, not peer cities, but neighboring cities such

[27:54] as Green Belt, Hyattsville, Laurel, Cal, Mar Manor,

[27:57] Riverdale Park, these are University Park,

[27:59] these are all towns and cities very close

[28:01] to us in proximity.

[28:02] What kinds of projects did you do for them?

[28:06] Um, it's, it's a, um, a variety of projects.

[28:10] Um, uh, certainly compensation.

[28:12] Uh, I know, um, matrix has done several projects including,

[28:17] uh, with Tacoma Park.

[28:18] And, sorry, Jen, I could've let you answer.

[28:21] Um, and then historically it could be a health

[28:24] and welfare consulting.

[28:26] Uh, or it could be, um, actuarial

[28:28] or investment consulting on, um, pension plans.

[28:32] Um, It would be any, any one

[28:34] of those within the, the, the services.

[28:37] Okay. Uh, is there any, Jen,

[28:40] do you have any more detail potentially,

[28:42] because I do think that this is a,

[28:44] a huge advantage you have given, um, the proximity

[28:47] that those cities have to us, if the study is similar, that

[28:51] some of the work has been done already for us.

[28:53] Uh, Greenbelt is less than two miles from us.

[28:56] Riverdale Park is less than two miles from us,

[28:58] but if they were very different projects, I, I don't see how

[29:01] that would, I mean, that wouldn't weigh against you, but,

[29:04] Uh, yeah, most of the,

[29:06] the projects on our list were operational,

[29:09] so full management consulting studies.

[29:11] So the piece of it that we always do, um, independently

[29:15] as a management consulting firm

[29:16] or with Bolton, is the operational organizational

[29:20] and staffing assessments.

[29:21] So in some of those cases, our projects were, um,

[29:25] a much deeper dive into operations than

[29:27] what your scope requires.

[29:29] So we do, uh, a deeper comparison

[29:31] of best management practice process and operations.

[29:34] So that part would be a little bit different.

[29:36] Um, yeah, I don't think you're asking us to go into

[29:38] that level of detail, but the staffing and

[29:40] and organization is fairly similar.

[29:42] Um, again, I would say probably in most cases, a lot

[29:45] of those projects that are on our list were, um,

[29:48] probably a little bit deeper dives than

[29:50] what you guys are asking for.

[29:51] So when we get into, um, uh, complete resource and,

[29:56] and staffing analysis versus sort of like looking at the,

[29:59] at the gap comparisons, um, organizational, the,

[30:03] the primary task of organizational structure is very

[30:05] similar, very relevant.

[30:07] Um, in most cases, when we're looking at

[30:09] that organizational structure, we're looking for, um, just,

[30:12] you know, do the placement of functions make sense?

[30:14] Is span of control of supervisors adequate?

[30:18] Do, um, our positions set up, you know, that's where we work

[30:21] with Bolton to figure out, okay,

[30:22] do positions have the career progression that they need?

[30:25] Do we need to recommend some additional tiers to be able

[30:28] to allow for, uh, for career development?

[30:30] So I think the organizational review in the staffing

[30:34] oversight piece of it that you guys are requesting is,

[30:37] is very similar to what we did in most of those locations.

[30:41] Alright. And then the last question I have is, uh,

[30:44] it's similar to the question council member Mave asked

[30:46] regarding, uh, timeline.

[30:48] Uh, it says that, that there's three to four weeks for the,

[30:51] uh, employee pay audit.

[30:54] I actually think that that possibly could

[30:55] be done a lot faster.

[30:56] We don't have as large, uh, staff as some of these other,

[30:59] uh, peer like cities that you've worked with.

[31:01] And we use Paycom for our records management.

[31:05] Do you think that it'd be possible that

[31:07] that could be even more expeditious than

[31:09] your projected forecast?

[31:11] Um, it certainly could.

[31:13] It, it's not something I would commit to right now,

[31:16] you know, certainly 'cause we

[31:17] don't know what the records are.

[31:19] Um, but yeah, I mean, we will do it as expeditiously

[31:22] as possible for sure.

[31:23] Um, and,

[31:24] and I will say, uh, I don't know at

[31:27] what point you'd be ready to select and kick off, uh,

[31:30] but we, we do work to deadlines.

[31:33] So, you know, if there's, there's something pressing, uh,

[31:35] sometimes we can, um, get deliverables together, uh,

[31:41] not quicker necessarily for the full piece of that,

[31:43] but if there's some informational,

[31:45] uh, items that are needed.

[31:46] Um, the only thing I, I guess I've mentioned too, in terms

[31:49] of the local market, uh, I think the benefit really

[31:53] of having worked with the other organizations in the area

[31:57] is really our ability to, um, uh, get them to participate

[32:02] in survey, uh, that we have relationships there

[32:05] and we can, um, uh, work on those relationships.

[32:09] I think particularly with, with some of the operational

[32:13] and organizational studies, there's a tremendous, a lot of,

[32:16] uh, tremendous amount of really smart practice

[32:19] that's out there that that matrix has worked on from cities,

[32:23] you know, California, Oregon, um,

[32:25] certainly there's the conditions of being in Maryland and,

[32:28] and, and whatever that would be

[32:29] legislatively and operationally.

[32:31] But, um, I, I think that, that we're able to bring a lot

[32:34] of great ideas, um, outside of what Tacoma Park would have

[32:38] or, or Greenbelt.

[32:40] Um, and then, you know, interestingly enough, uh,

[32:44] I live in Cincinnati

[32:46] and I grew up really close to, uh, green Hills, Ohio,

[32:50] which is one of those, the, the three greens, you know,

[32:53] back, back from the day.

[32:54] So.

[32:56] Well, thank you so much. I don't have any other questions.

[32:59] All right. We've used up your

[33:00] time, but I have a couple questions.

[33:01] One, I'll start by complimenting you when I read this,

[33:04] I've read through six of these

[33:05] and I think this was, I found this concise right

[33:09] to the point on how you would attack each of our challenges.

[33:11] So thank you. I think you did an excellent job with that.

[33:14] Um, and you mentioned in responding

[33:17] to Brianna about anything that's pressing

[33:20] and when we would make the selection, just keep in mind

[33:22] that we have to approve a budget that begins July one,

[33:26] and we start working on it in March, April timeframe.

[33:28] We see it and start having meetings,

[33:30] and our budget is going to be detailed with line items

[33:35] for the different positions.

[33:36] And you'll be looking at salaries

[33:38] and we wanna budget salaries.

[33:40] So that would be something pressing as you do your work,

[33:43] that if you were coming up with recommendations

[33:45] that changed from what we've had

[33:47] before, we'd wanna know that, um, that,

[33:49] and then the, uh, the question I'd ask you to comment on is,

[33:52] um, you mentioned working with the administration

[33:55] and with the council, and you gotta work with the employees,

[33:58] but the stakeholders include the public too.

[34:01] So what's your experience with coming to a council meeting

[34:03] and sharing progress reports,

[34:05] even if it's virtually or sending Jen?

[34:07] I mean, is that something you can do too? Oh yeah,

[34:09] Certainly. Um,

[34:10] we regularly present on, on the backend more often.

[34:14] Um, we, um, I anticipate in this project actually

[34:19] treating the council from an interview perspective to, um,

[34:23] as we would, uh, the senior management team.

[34:25] And that, that doesn't happen, um, that often.

[34:27] But, uh, certainly reporting back, um, back

[34:32] for the public record, you know, uh,

[34:34] do that further regularly.

[34:36] Thank you for coming in person.

[34:38] We have you on our agenda as being virtual.

[34:40] I guess you meant Jen, but I'm glad you came up

[34:41] here to share with us.

[34:43] Yeah, no, I, it was an

[34:44] excuse to go to the corporate offices.

[34:46] I try and stay away. But

[34:48] You came from Cincinnati

[34:49] to Towson just to come visit with us.

[34:51] I came, I, I just spent some time in Towson,

[34:54] but you know, the, the whole wa Baltimore,

[34:56] Washington getting around, nothing's easy.

[34:58] So I didn't stay in your proposal.

[34:59] That does raise a question.

[35:00] I didn't see anything about travel.

[35:02] Towson to here is a commute.

[35:04] It's, it's part of the, the price fixed. Okay.

[35:06] Yeah. Okay. You don't need hotels.

[35:08] You don't need miles. No.

[35:09] Okay, We're all set. Alright,

[35:11] I think we've covered everything. Thank you for being here,

[35:13] Dan. Thank you for your time.

[35:14] Yeah.

[35:17] And then our next presenter is supposed

[35:20] to be virtual, correct?

[35:21] They're online. They're online. Okay.

[35:24] And shift gears in your thinking, counsel to

[35:28] BRC, is that correct?

[35:29] Second, BRC consulting. Outstanding.

[35:40] Are they connected? Did they spoke first?

[35:44] Good evening everyone. There we go.

[35:47] On behalf of BR, the BRC team, I would like

[35:51] to thank you all for speaking with us regarding this project

[35:55] initiative opportunity.

[35:57] At this time, I would like for you all to meet the BRC team.

[36:02] I'm Harold Cooper, chief strategy officer

[36:05] and lead consultant with compensation audits.

[36:09] Good afternoon or good evening. I'm Juanita. Morning.

[36:12] I'm lead consultant for the organizational assessment.

[36:17] Good evening. Um, Amir Aziz.

[36:19] I'm supporting HR compliance and employee relations.

[36:23] And good evening everyone. My name is Adrian Hibbert

[36:26] and I am communication strategist and technical writer.

[36:30] Good evening. My name is Beverly Cooper

[36:33] and I'll serve as your project manager for this engagement.

[36:37] My responsibility will be to lead coordination

[36:41] and make sure that there are, there is alignment

[36:43] through all phases of this project.

[36:46] I will also serve as your primary point of contact.

[36:52] Thank you, Beverly. So our project

[36:57] timeline is very seamless.

[36:59] Um, we decided that we wanted to do parallel work streams,

[37:02] ensuring comprehensive analysis while meeting your fiscal

[37:05] year 2026 alignment needs.

[37:08] Now we do have multiple tasks running concurrently.

[37:10] So we are going to do task one, task two,

[37:13] and task three side by side.

[37:15] And this accelerated timeline leverages our proven

[37:18] frameworks and experienced team

[37:20] to deliver actionable insights quickly.

[37:22] So we do know that there is, um, quite a few piece of data

[37:26] that we would need to collect

[37:27] and, um, we just wanna make sure

[37:29] that we have the in hand in order for us to move forward

[37:32] with, um, going through this process.

[37:37] Now, these are our milestones and decision points.

[37:39] We made them, um, very clear.

[37:41] It's about two weeks in between each one except for between,

[37:45] um, week five and six.

[37:46] And that's where we're going to draft deliver, uh,

[37:48] our reports delivered for initial review and feedback.

[37:51] Week one, of course is our kickoff meeting

[37:53] and we collect our data during that week.

[37:56] And then by week three we are going to do employee surveys

[38:00] and we're going to do the classification, validation

[38:02] and then draft reports.

[38:04] And then week six we're gonna do the equity analysis

[38:06] and benchmarking.

[38:07] And then by week eight we will provide a final report

[38:10] and the implementation toolkit.

[38:13] And now I'll hand this off to my colleague Harold

[38:16] to go over, um, each timeline.

[38:19] Thank you. Adrie Task one compensation audit.

[38:23] This is gonna be a four week process pertaining

[38:26] to the overall project in which we will gather compensation

[38:31] data, analyze that information, review policy alignment,

[38:36] and identify outliers

[38:38] and examine fiscal alignment

[38:42] in reference to task two,

[38:44] organizational assessment and timeline.

[38:48] That's gonna be a four phase approach.

[38:51] BRC will conduct interviews, review organizational charts

[38:55] and structure, and also look at it

[38:58] and evaluate alignment as it pertains

[39:00] to strategic priorities.

[39:03] We will also provide department level summaries

[39:07] that will lend to meaningful leadership discussions

[39:09] and positive change management.

[39:11] What we're trying to do here is to ensure that

[39:14] workload equity distribution

[39:17] is fair across all job classifications.

[39:22] Hello, At this time we'll transition to Juanita.

[39:26] Thank you, Harold. So, um, as far

[39:29] as the compensation study, it is eight weeks

[39:32] and we would begin with the data review

[39:34] where we take a look at external.

[39:37] Um, we conduct surveys in weeks two, and then weeks three

[39:40] and four are external benchmarking.

[39:42] And we also look at the internal equity

[39:45] and do some modeling on that.

[39:47] Um, week five is for the salary grade review and design.

[39:51] And then week six models, the implementation of the costs

[39:55] and different scenarios.

[39:57] Um, in the last weeks week seven

[39:59] and eight, they're dedicated to the report finalization,

[40:02] leadership briefings,

[40:04] and also any support materials to help guide

[40:07] and support rollout to leadership.

[40:10] Now in addition, um, these are the deliverables by phase

[40:14] and we wanna, I wanna talk about how we map them

[40:16] to each core task.

[40:18] So task one delivers a full compensation audit report.

[40:23] And then task two, we include the organizational summary

[40:26] sheets to provide department

[40:28] by department insights on the structure, role clarity,

[40:32] and also any opportunities for optimization.

[40:35] In task three, it produces the updated job classifications

[40:39] and also revised market competitive salary structure, um,

[40:43] with pay grade recommendations.

[40:45] And in our final phase, we provide an implementation tool

[40:49] and that includes any rollout guidance, any cost scenarios,

[40:53] the communication plans

[40:54] and strategies to maintain long-term sustainability.

[40:58] And each of these phases, um, along with the task,

[41:01] helps build toward an end-to-end solution that's clear,

[41:05] actionable, and ready for audit.

[41:16] Thank you for giving us this opportunity, um,

[41:19] to present to you this evening.

[41:21] Um, we're excited, um, about this transformative engagement

[41:26] and our team is ready to deliver insights

[41:28] and tools you need to build a more equitable, competitive

[41:32] and sustainable compensation structure.

[41:35] Um, we're ready to answer your questions at this time

[41:38] and we definitely welcome your feedback.

[41:43] Okay. So I'm gonna start with this time.

[41:45] We can go back to, um, Agnel.

[41:47] Are you ready for ERC?

[41:55] I need a few more minutes

[41:56] To review my notes.

[41:57] Cynthia? Cynthia,

[42:03] Cynthia on mute?

[42:11] Yes. Okay, well let's go to Brianna. Okay,

[42:14] I'm off mute.

[42:15] Cynthia, You say that some of some of the things

[42:19] to be working on at the same time, so like

[42:22] everybody has their own team

[42:24] to be working on certain subjects at the same time.

[42:30] Yes, I will. I will step in. Yes. Um, absolutely.

[42:33] So Harold and I talked about how there's eight weeks

[42:36] for the entire process.

[42:38] So he will be leading, um, the team as far

[42:40] as the compensation study,

[42:42] and I will be the lead on the organizational assessment.

[42:45] That's so we can work hand in hand in hand

[42:47] and in tandem with one another

[42:49] to not only ensure our guidelines are met,

[42:51] but that we're in sync with the information

[42:53] that we are gathering to actually support the process in

[42:56] full and ensure that we have a good robust process in order

[43:01] to deliver, um, the actual tools

[43:03] and good documentation as well as a great understanding

[43:06] of the organization and what needs to happen next.

[43:09] So when you give us a report, it'd be one big report

[43:12] where all of it combined.

[43:16] Carol, do you wanna answer?

[43:17] From my perspective, at the end of the day,

[43:19] we will deliver a full report inclusive

[43:22] of our recommendations and our findings,

[43:25] but there will be reporting in the midst of that,

[43:28] that might be separate,

[43:30] but at the end we will bring all of that together

[43:33] for a full presentation.

[43:34] And recommendations.

[43:36] Uh, yes. To piggyback off of what Juanita just stated,

[43:38] ma'am, there will be an executive summary, Madam Vice chair.

[43:42] And what we will have in that executive vice, uh,

[43:46] executive summary is a detailed analysis

[43:50] of all the sections associated with this process.

[43:53] In reference to the compensation audit piece,

[43:56] there'll be extensive data associated with

[44:00] how we came up with strategies that we're recommending

[44:03] that you all implement.

[44:04] And the same is so so for the organizational structure, uh,

[44:09] initiative that's outlined in this profile.

[44:12] All right, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[44:15] Okay, thank you Cynthia.

[44:17] And let me, uh, lemme let Brianna go while I,

[44:20] now we still gather your thoughts.

[44:21] Brianna, you ready with questions?

[44:23] Yes, sure. Um, uh, good evening.

[44:26] Where are you guys located? Just curious.

[44:29] We're based in the metro Atlanta area.

[44:32] Okay. So I saw that travel, um, uh, costs in there.

[44:36] So you're not local.

[44:37] Uh, do you anticipate having to travel more than once, uh,

[44:41] to complete this assignment?

[44:44] Um, no. I don't anticipate that we'll have

[44:45] to travel more than once to complete the assignment.

[44:49] Perfect. And then, uh, I had one other question.

[44:52] Of course it's escaping me.

[44:54] I've been writing notes while everyone's been talking,

[44:56] and then I don't remember to write down what I wanna ask.

[44:58] Um, bear with me one second.

[45:00] I think I'll find it as I, uh, when I go back to

[45:04] the section I was looking at, um,

[45:08] if I don't find it, maybe,

[45:09] maybe Agnel has the same question as me.

[45:12] Uh, uh, bear with me a second.

[45:21] You know what? I can't, there was something that,

[45:23] that I saw in the presentation when I was reading it

[45:25] that I cannot recall right now.

[45:27] I don't remember being a very serious problem,

[45:30] but, uh, if I, if I come up with a question, I,

[45:34] I have all the ways to contact you.

[45:35] So thank you so much. Thank

[45:37] You. We, we can come back to

[45:38] you. Let's see if I acknowledge

[45:39] ready with her her questions.

[45:43] Good evening. Um, I would tell you that

[45:47] I love the detail of the deliverables

[45:51] as presented in your proposal

[45:53] because it gives, it gave me an opportunity to

[45:59] say those are the answers we're looking for.

[46:02] There's all these questions, um, that this council

[46:07] has identified.

[46:09] Um, and so

[46:11] having the deliverables map out so clearly

[46:16] by each of the tasks help crystallize

[46:22] that you organization your company,

[46:26] has a clear view of what we're looking for.

[46:31] And there's one sentence, um, particularly that I wanna read

[46:35] because it's something for us to all keep in mind, um,

[46:39] internally as we're working on this

[46:41] and how the three tasks are connected is the

[46:46] organizational assessment serves as the bridge

[46:50] between historical compensation practices

[46:54] and the future focus compensation study.

[46:58] So we need to know our history in order to plan our future.

[47:02] We're interested in identifying

[47:05] what happened in the past without assigning blame,

[47:09] just knowing what was done and what can we do better.

[47:13] And I think your proposal does address that.

[47:17] Um, can you speak a bit into

[47:23] how the market survey would be conducted

[47:26] and the identification of peers?

[47:29] Yes, Madam uh, Councilwoman, first

[47:32] and foremost, we would take a deep dive into the existing

[47:37] structure that you have now.

[47:39] You have 30 pay grades, you have 25 steps.

[47:42] We'll look at your total budget. I know that, uh, Mr.

[47:46] Chairman stated that you all will be working on a budget

[47:49] for the July 1st new fiscal year.

[47:52] And what we'll do is we'll take a look at your positions.

[47:55] You have 52 positions.

[47:56] We'll take in consideration

[47:58] that you have 17 exempt positions

[48:00] and that you have 30 unified collective bargaining positions

[48:04] and five non-exempt positions.

[48:07] And we will look at where your current salaries are.

[48:10] Now, one of the key things

[48:12] to any market data study is looking at trends

[48:17] in your area and nationally.

[48:19] So with new Carrollton being roughly under 14,000

[48:24] or maybe 14,000 citizens, we will look at cities

[48:29] and towns of like size such as Oxen Hills, Maryland,

[48:34] such as Fall Church Virginia, such

[48:36] as Temple Hills, Maryland.

[48:38] And we will take in consideration their population.

[48:43] And when you do the aggregate, when you average it out,

[48:47] that's just under 14,000 as a collective.

[48:52] And we will look at their trends in terms

[48:54] of their salary impact.

[48:57] We'll look at the number of employees they have.

[48:59] Is it on par with New Carrollton having 78 employees?

[49:03] Those are the things we'll do.

[49:05] We'll take the deep dive first from the local area,

[49:08] and then we'll look at that like positions nationally

[49:13] and, and do our aggregate and our comparisons

[49:16] and synthesize the data at that particular point.

[49:19] But we will also keep in mind that the budget is paramount.

[49:23] And again, your biggest stakeholders

[49:26] and your biggest resources are those 14,000 citizens

[49:29] that make up new Carrollton.

[49:33] Thank you. Um, my,

[49:39] maybe not my last question, but my last question right now.

[49:43] Can you clarify for me the total cost of your proposal?

[49:47] 'cause when I look at page 41 mm-hmm. I'm confused.

[49:51] Um, first line of cost proposal in billing terms

[49:56] says total 38,500.

[50:02] Then there's a breakdown for each of the tasks.

[50:05] And then I get a total that's 77,000.

[50:10] So I do apologize for that.

[50:11] We had, um, a, um, um, what do you call it?

[50:16] A we had the, the calculator working there.

[50:20] So the total cost of the proposal, we had a formula there.

[50:24] I'm sorry, that's the word I was looking for is $38,500.

[50:28] Okay. So instead of repeating that at the bottom, you know,

[50:31] the formula calculated the three,

[50:35] the the total plus the line item. So that was a mistake.

[50:39] That's what I gathered, but I wanted a confirmation. Yes.

[50:43] Um, was the paper said differently? Yes. So thank you.

[50:48] Um, back to you Mr. Chair.

[50:51] Uh, thank you. That's a big typo. Mm-hmm.

[50:54] Um, but price isn't the only factor to see.

[50:57] Who have I not heard from Lincoln? You have questions for?

[51:00] Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you all very much

[51:02] for your detailed presentation.

[51:05] Um, I noted when I was going through your proposal

[51:07] that the company was founded in 2021.

[51:11] It sounds like you all are a fairly new

[51:12] corporation, which is fine.

[51:14] Um, no issues. But I wanted to know, have you worked

[51:18] with other municipalities in the past on similar projects?

[51:22] And if so, have you done any in Maryland

[51:24] or Prince George's County?

[51:27] Um, yes. We, um, are currently working on a project

[51:31] with a, a housing authority in Connecticut.

[51:34] We have not done any work in the Maryland

[51:37] or Prince George's County area. Fair

[51:40] Enough. Thank you for that honest

[51:41] answer.

[51:42] Um, and in my humble opinion, when I was looking at this

[51:45] and, and I guess you're doing

[51:47] all three tasks simultaneously.

[51:49] Mm-hmm. It seems to me like eight weeks was an aggressive

[51:51] time timeframe, which is fine.

[51:54] And I'm, I'm sure that, you know,

[51:55] you are capable of getting that done.

[51:57] But what I wanna know is that your company's standard

[51:59] for doing projects of this size and scope.

[52:03] So we have our teams, um, that are set aside

[52:07] to work on each phase of the project.

[52:09] And so we are prepared, um, to meet the deadline

[52:14] and to, uh, ensure

[52:15] that all tasks are completed on time and within budget.

[52:20] Fair enough. And last

[52:21] but not least, is there a grace period or follow up period

[52:24] after the final deliverables have been delivered for us

[52:28] to ask questions about implementation

[52:30] or anything that we may be concerned about?

[52:33] So, um, if, if whatever questions you have, um,

[52:36] after the project has been completed, we're,

[52:39] we're definitely available to assist

[52:42] and answer any questions you may have.

[52:44] And there's no specific, um,

[52:46] time period in which you can ask those questions.

[52:50] Very good. Thank you very much. I have no

[52:51] Further questions. Okay. And

[52:52] I don't have any questions,

[52:53] but Harold, I wanted to let you know that, uh, your response

[52:57] to, uh, the stakeholders was an excellent response.

[53:00] Something I'm gonna take into

[53:01] consideration as we review these.

[53:02] And I appreciate your thoughts on that.

[53:04] And I also want you to know that I'll be considering, uh,

[53:07] we've, we've spoken with some firms that are more local

[53:10] and they may have some experience with Maryland,

[53:12] but does the other side of that is somebody coming from a

[53:15] distance may have an independent look

[53:17] that may be beneficial to us.

[53:19] So I'll be considering that. But I, that's all I have now.

[53:21] Brianna, did you, did we trigger?

[53:23] Yes, I did. Well,

[53:24] Council member Malva was able to help me.

[53:27] It was the question around the pricing and the numbers.

[53:29] That was one of the questions,

[53:31] but it, I do have one other question.

[53:33] Um, and it's, it's a question slash comment.

[53:37] What, uh, the catalyst for, for the council

[53:40] to take this action was, uh, learning about the salaries

[53:45] of the individual employees.

[53:47] We manage the, the council in, in

[53:49] for our city manages the budget,

[53:51] we manage the purse strings.

[53:52] However, uh, the way our budget was previously presented,

[53:55] only the director's salary was listed

[53:57] and all of the other employees salaries were listed under

[54:00] like, kind of an umbrella employee

[54:02] services for that department.

[54:04] So it was hard to know who was earning what.

[54:07] Uh, the council came

[54:09] and said information at the beginning of this mayor's term.

[54:11] And that was kind of what led the council

[54:13] to wanna take this action

[54:15] and to be point be frank, which you would be able

[54:17] to see at any, uh, council meeting

[54:18] that's taken place on the subject.

[54:21] Many of the council believed that the salaries, uh,

[54:23] from several, uh, employees are too high above market

[54:27] or not, uh, in line with

[54:29] what other professionals are earning here in the state

[54:32] of Maryland or across the region.

[54:34] Have you ever encountered that in your work previously

[54:37] where the aim was to right size salaries down

[54:42] as opposed to up?

[54:43] Because I feel like the way the, the way the language

[54:46] that you guys use talking about equity

[54:47] and things like that, it, look, I think

[54:50] that these things usually come from a place

[54:52] of let's making sure we're competitive so that we can retain

[54:54] and recruit the best employees.

[54:56] We, we are coming from it from a different lens.

[54:58] And so I just wanted to know if you could speak to that.

[55:02] Uh, Madam Council, if I can interject, uh,

[55:05] in my own professional experiences, I served

[55:08] as the human resources director for Henry County Government.

[55:11] It was the eighth largest county in the metro Atlanta area.

[55:15] And we had those issues

[55:17] where there was a huge disproportion in terms of salaries

[55:21] and things of that nature where we had 1600 employees

[55:25] and we had to address those issues.

[55:27] So one of the things that we did was create

[55:31] progression steps for those employees who needed

[55:34] to be brought up to speed,

[55:36] but also looked at reclassifying those positions

[55:41] that we felt was at an exorbitant amount.

[55:44] Now is that a difficult thing to do

[55:46] because you have to have difficult

[55:48] conversations with people?

[55:49] Sure, but it was the right thing to do

[55:51] because ultimately we have to put the taxpayers first, uh,

[55:56] on a, in a different, uh, career lens.

[55:58] When I served as a county administrator, I had

[56:02] to do the same thing where there was a huge disparity in the

[56:05] leadership pay in comparison to some

[56:08] of the other classifications.

[56:10] And we had to take a look at that

[56:11] and say, Hey, our needs have to be our wants

[56:14] and our wants have to be our needs in terms of

[56:17] being fiscally responsible.

[56:19] And what we did was we, we reclassified positions

[56:23] that may have been directors

[56:25] that probably should have been mid-level management

[56:28] positions and looked at the job classifications

[56:31] and the job descriptions to change them accordingly.

[56:34] Because again, when you're doing a classification

[56:37] and compensation study, it's all inclusive.

[56:40] It's not just the pay grades and the steps.

[56:44] It is taking a deep dive in those,

[56:46] looking at those positions.

[56:48] If it warrants doing a personnel analysis questionnaire

[56:51] where you're sitting down

[56:52] and doing desk audits with these employees, you do that

[56:57] and then you do that

[56:59] and you compare it to what the job really is entails

[57:03] and what it's supposed to be in terms of job functions.

[57:07] So again, you know, we understand that that may be

[57:12] a task that is not comfortable,

[57:15] but it's a task that's needed.

[57:16] And ultimately it's a task that at the end,

[57:20] those 13,544 citizens

[57:23] that make up new Carrollton will be appreciative

[57:25] of this council for doing such things.

[57:28] Thank you so much. That's a great

[57:30] answer. I have no other questions.

[57:32] You know, I just wanna second that,

[57:34] that was a great answer, Harold.

[57:35] Thank you for your insights on that.

[57:37] And, and the way residents have expressed it to me, Harold,

[57:40] is if we have salaries that are above the market rates

[57:44] or competitive rates, the extra money we're paying is money

[57:47] that we lose in providing other services such as parks

[57:50] and roads and things that we need money for.

[57:53] So that it just needs to be addressed.

[57:55] But thank you for that answer. I think that's,

[57:57] And thank you Mr. Chairman.

[57:58] Yeah, I think that's it.

[58:00] And I really appreciate you all being with us tonight.

[58:03] Sorry you couldn't come up with from Atlanta,

[58:05] but when you're, when you're up here,

[58:06] the travel costs are included

[58:07] in the number you gave us, right?

[58:10] The travel costs are, um, not included in the number.

[58:15] I think, um, the traffic, it's listed somewhere else. Yeah.

[58:18] It, it is listed somewhere else in the proposal.

[58:20] Okay. Okay. I didn't see it, but that's okay.

[58:24] Um, outstanding.

[58:26] We're gonna let you folks go

[58:27] and we have, we're almost on schedule.

[58:28] We have another presenter at eight o'clock. Okay.

[58:32] Thank you. Thank you all for this opportunity

[58:34] and thank you for you do for what you do for the citizens.

[58:37] Thank you sir. Thank You. Thank you for having us.

[58:40] Alright, good evening. Alright.

[58:43] We have

[58:45] MGT, are they online?

[58:49] Malaysia

[58:52] Is someone from MGT Impact Solutions online?

[58:55] Yes. Yes. Good evening.

[58:57] Okay.

[59:06] Are you ready for me to go ahead and get started?

[59:07] Oh yeah, we're ready. And just

[59:09] to highlight the instructions, I asked the administration

[59:11] to give you some guidance that you try

[59:13] to present your approach first

[59:15] and in five minutes if you can.

[59:17] And then give us more time for questions and answers,

[59:19] but use your time accordingly.

[59:21] We, we will be here to, to listen

[59:22] and to respond to your, to your input. You ready?

[59:26] Great. I am ready. Is it okay if I share my screen?

[59:30] I just have a short PowerPoint.

[59:31] I'll walk through and try to stick to

[59:32] that five minute, five minute timeline

[59:34] If you need a little more. What's your name?

[59:36] Yes, my name's Rachel Scaggs.

[59:38] I'm a vice president with MGT

[59:41] and looking forward to talking

[59:42] to you. Nice to meet you all.

[59:44] Okay. Um,

[59:48] it's not letting me share. Oh, here we go.

[59:52] At the bottom with the up arrow.

[59:54] Got it. We're teams, people. So then I'm sharing it here.

[59:57] I get confused. Can you see my screen now?

[1:00:01] We got it. It's kind of tiny,

[1:00:03] but we got it. There we go. Okay.

[1:00:05] Great. Alright. Good evening again.

[1:00:08] Thank you so much for allowing me some time to present.

[1:00:11] Really looking forward to this.

[1:00:12] Sorry, I was not able to be in person.

[1:00:14] We're all really busy with client work this week

[1:00:17] and I'm actually leaving to go onsite

[1:00:19] to a client tomorrow morning,

[1:00:20] so I couldn't attend in person.

[1:00:22] Really wish I could.

[1:00:23] Um, but again, thanks for allowing me to be here virtually.

[1:00:28] So I'm gonna skip over the agenda.

[1:00:30] I'm just gonna touch on a few things, uh,

[1:00:32] regarding our proposal

[1:00:33] and a high level overview of what we're doing.

[1:00:35] I think it's really important to note that, you know,

[1:00:38] at MGT our approach is always structured

[1:00:41] and data-driven and tailored.

[1:00:43] 'cause every community that we work

[1:00:44] with is a little bit different.

[1:00:46] All of our work is for public sector entities and agencies.

[1:00:49] We work with, um, a variety of different local governments,

[1:00:53] county governments, nonprofits, special service districts,

[1:00:57] and we have to tailor our work to fit our clients' needs.

[1:01:00] 'cause every community is a little bit different,

[1:01:02] but all of our work is structured and data-driven

[1:01:05] and we focus heavily on making sure

[1:01:07] that we establish a partnership

[1:01:09] and provide something that you're able to implement

[1:01:12] and use for a long time.

[1:01:13] We also emphasize transparency.

[1:01:16] We wanna be collaborative with the city staff

[1:01:19] and we also wanna adhere to any, um, applicable legal

[1:01:22] and regulatory requirements as well.

[1:01:25] I wanted to highlight some work

[1:01:26] that we've done in the region that you'll see up here.

[1:01:28] A lot of these were executive recruitment work

[1:01:31] and uh, studies, not necessarily classification

[1:01:35] and compensation, but other org assessments

[1:01:37] and executive recruitment work.

[1:01:38] So we work all over the United States

[1:01:40] and have, have done some work in your region as well.

[1:01:45] I'll talk a little bit about the scope and methodology.

[1:01:47] So there's four separate tasks.

[1:01:50] They'll kind of, um, some

[1:01:53] of them will overlap in what's being done

[1:01:55] and they'll sort of be done at the same time.

[1:01:57] But first task is the salary and pay increase audit.

[1:02:00] When we start a study,

[1:02:02] we always have a project kickoff meeting.

[1:02:04] That's where we really establish the team, the cadence

[1:02:06] of communication.

[1:02:08] We talk about the data

[1:02:09] and information that we're gonna need from you.

[1:02:11] There's always a huge data request at the beginning

[1:02:14] and we know that you and your staff and everyone's busy.

[1:02:17] But we do wanna make sure we get all that, that data

[1:02:19] and information up front so we don't have to bother that for

[1:02:22] or bother you for that later.

[1:02:23] So we have that data request.

[1:02:25] We establish a cadence of communication.

[1:02:28] We talk about the employee engagement,

[1:02:30] stakeholder engagement, what

[1:02:31] that's gonna look like throughout the process.

[1:02:34] And then we'll start that cola cost

[1:02:36] of living adjustment review, the salary audit.

[1:02:39] We'll put together recommendations.

[1:02:41] We'll provide an Excel model that goes through all of that

[1:02:44] and looks specifically at those

[1:02:46] increases and what they look like.

[1:02:47] And um, any recommendations from that.

[1:02:49] So that's kind of the first component.

[1:02:51] The next two, task two and three we'll kind of go together.

[1:02:55] First is that org assessment.

[1:02:57] But one thing that we always start

[1:02:59] with is determining a group of external comparables.

[1:03:02] And this is really important

[1:03:03] because we wanna determine a group of peers

[1:03:06] that are most similar to your city.

[1:03:08] So we're gonna look at things such as budget, employees,

[1:03:12] proximity per capita income, um,

[1:03:18] uh, there's other financial, I'm, I'm missing one right now,

[1:03:21] but there's a few other financial criteria.

[1:03:23] So we can really focus

[1:03:24] and look at communities that have a similar ability to pay.

[1:03:27] So we rank those using our methodology

[1:03:29] so there's a clear approach

[1:03:30] and communities that score the highest in our ranking

[1:03:33] or then the most similar to your city.

[1:03:36] And we will, uh, propose those to you.

[1:03:38] However, then we meet with you to have a discussion on that

[1:03:41] because we also understand,

[1:03:43] although they might be similar based on those financial

[1:03:46] criteria, uh,

[1:03:47] there still might be other competitors in the market.

[1:03:49] And I know that RFP specifically mentioned looking at the DC

[1:03:52] Metro and we wanna make sure we include all the peers

[1:03:54] that you want us to evaluate.

[1:03:57] So we'll have that discussion with you.

[1:03:58] We'll start the organizational structure

[1:04:00] and workflow review.

[1:04:02] Employees will fill out and complete a job analysis

[1:04:05] questionnaire and we'll do that job data review.

[1:04:09] We'll use, um, those peers that we established

[1:04:12] to then send out a custom market survey.

[1:04:15] And that survey will look at

[1:04:17] specific pay information benefits

[1:04:19] and also have some staffing questions in there

[1:04:22] so we can really understand

[1:04:23] and see what those comparable peers are doing in terms of

[1:04:26] that pay and benefits and staffing.

[1:04:28] And compare that to New Carrollton

[1:04:30] and look at that, what those differences are

[1:04:32] and make a recommendation on that.

[1:04:35] So we'll develop a classification and compensation plan.

[1:04:38] We'll review your current structure, make recommendations,

[1:04:40] potentially new classifications or grades or new step system

[1:04:45] and talk to you about what works best

[1:04:47] and our recommendations there.

[1:04:49] And then we'll also have recommendations on the

[1:04:51] organizational and staffing structure, realignment,

[1:04:53] looking at delivery, service delivery

[1:04:56] and meeting those needs.

[1:04:58] We also always provide up to 10 hours

[1:05:00] and sometimes even more, um, over three months

[1:05:03] after the final recommendations are

[1:05:06] provided for implementation questions.

[1:05:08] We want this to be something you can implement

[1:05:10] and use for many years.

[1:05:12] So we wanna make sure that we're there

[1:05:13] and you have us to answer any questions that come up.

[1:05:17] Um, if there needs to be a refresher training on the systems

[1:05:19] or tools or Excel models

[1:05:22] or if there needs to be an appeals process

[1:05:24] or review for specific positions

[1:05:26] or classifications that are maybe dissatisfied

[1:05:28] with some parts of it, we can review those for you.

[1:05:31] So we always provide that post study support

[1:05:34] for at least three months,

[1:05:35] but it can definitely be longer to make sure

[1:05:38] that it's a plan that you're really comfortable with.

[1:05:41] I'll just, I just have two more slides.

[1:05:43] I'll go into a little more detail on the

[1:05:45] survey data collection.

[1:05:47] So we use a custom market survey, um,

[1:05:50] and we also do our own outreach and research.

[1:05:54] So we use a custom market survey

[1:05:55] through a tool called Qualtrics

[1:05:57] that we'll send out to those peers.

[1:05:59] But we also always follow that up

[1:06:00] with our own outreach and research.

[1:06:03] We will benchmark all of your positions

[1:06:05] and we typically look at aiming to compare those to 10

[1:06:07] to 15 comparable entities.

[1:06:09] But we're open to sending that out to more.

[1:06:12] We'll work with you on a number

[1:06:13] that makes the most sense in terms of comparable peers

[1:06:17] in regards to what we'll need from the city, you know,

[1:06:19] again, we'll ask for all your org charts, rosters,

[1:06:22] job descriptions, policies, pay history, documentation,

[1:06:25] so we really get a good understanding of everything

[1:06:28] that has been going on and what we might need to look at um,

[1:06:31] as we survey those peers.

[1:06:32] And then also internally when we do those job evaluations,

[1:06:36] meet with employees, have those employee kickoff meetings

[1:06:39] and really understand, um, you know,

[1:06:41] all the concerns that are coming up.

[1:06:44] We'll look, when we do that external market survey,

[1:06:46] we look at uh, job matches, titles

[1:06:49] and descriptions, salary ranges, mid, mid and max.

[1:06:53] We look at starting placement practices, full

[1:06:56] step increases, uh, departmental staffing levels, number

[1:07:00] of positions and other organization specific questions

[1:07:03] that we'll work with you and your team on identifying.

[1:07:06] And then we'll also gather information

[1:07:08] as it relates to benefits.

[1:07:12] Uh, and then once we're complete with the study

[1:07:15] and we present our recommendations

[1:07:16] and report, again, we provide that support

[1:07:19] to the city afterwards up to three months or 10 hours.

[1:07:22] That's a little flexible because again, we want that

[1:07:25] to be a partnership

[1:07:26] and we wanna make sure it's

[1:07:27] something you can use and implement.

[1:07:29] We'll provide you with a copy of the final report, um,

[1:07:32] that we'll have recommendations on how

[1:07:34] to optimize op operations and enhance service delivery.

[1:07:38] You'll also get a copy of all the Excel files and modeling

[1:07:41] and all the data that's been collected.

[1:07:43] We have a classification

[1:07:44] and compensation manual that we will train the team on

[1:07:47] to make sure they understand how to use that going forward.

[1:07:50] Um, and then all of our plans

[1:07:54] and all of our systems ensure pay equity

[1:07:55] because we really focus on

[1:07:57] that internal equity which ensures the pay equity along

[1:08:00] with pay competitiveness, looking out

[1:08:02] to those comparable peers and durability.

[1:08:04] You know, we want the, these recommendations,

[1:08:07] the staffing org assessment, uh, the compensation plan

[1:08:11] to be something you can use for many years

[1:08:13] and you don't have to go out

[1:08:14] and do this again for at least five

[1:08:15] years, but hopefully longer.

[1:08:17] And then one thing that I always like

[1:08:19] to highlight, it's my favorite.

[1:08:20] I have a really great team. We work together really well.

[1:08:23] Um, we're timely, we're organized, we're efficient,

[1:08:26] and we just pride ourselves on that communication

[1:08:29] and teamwork with our clients

[1:08:30] and that partnership that we develop with them.

[1:08:32] It's also important to note that almost all of the studies

[1:08:35] that we've completed have been implemented by the client

[1:08:38] and a majority of our clients,

[1:08:40] or many of them are repeat clients,

[1:08:41] which I think is a huge testimony to the work that we do.

[1:08:45] And then last slide, when we look at the project timeline,

[1:08:48] we have a five month projected timeline.

[1:08:50] A lot of these uh, tasks will kind of overlap

[1:08:53] so they won't be as clear as shown in here on our proposal.

[1:08:57] Um, but we'll try to complete them in that order.

[1:08:59] However, there's a lot of overlapping things

[1:09:00] between the tasks that we'll work on as we go through that.

[1:09:05] So that is what I had. Thank you for allowing me.

[1:09:07] I'm sorry I probably went over the five minutes,

[1:09:09] but I'm happy to answer any questions at this time.

[1:09:13] No, you're the last one that I said we can wait around

[1:09:15] for you and I, uh, I appreciate the presentation.

[1:09:17] I was just studying that timeline.

[1:09:19] I have questions but I like to defer

[1:09:21] to the council members first.

[1:09:22] Let's see who's ready this time.

[1:09:24] Uh, Cynthia, are you unmuted And you have any questions?

[1:09:27] No, I think she pretty well answered my questions.

[1:09:31] Okay. Uh, Nelly, are you prepared with any questions?

[1:09:36] Um, just one, um,

[1:09:39] how much room is there from your perspective

[1:09:42] to compress that timeline?

[1:09:46] Yeah, there's definitely opportunities to compress that.

[1:09:48] There are some overlapping factors

[1:09:51] we usually build in some additional time

[1:09:53] because one of the hardest things is to um,

[1:09:57] get those responses from the peers.

[1:09:58] So we wanna make sure we have enough time to put

[1:10:00] that survey together to make sure we get that peer response.

[1:10:03] And then if we don't, we can do

[1:10:04] that additional peer research.

[1:10:05] However, we can definitely expedite that process.

[1:10:08] And then the other thing we build in some additional time

[1:10:10] for that we can expedite is the employee process.

[1:10:15] 'cause we need them to complete

[1:10:16] that job analysis questionnaire.

[1:10:18] We need supervisors to review that

[1:10:20] and then we conduct interviews or conversations.

[1:10:23] I like to call them conversations with employees

[1:10:25] to make sure we understand the duties of the position.

[1:10:28] So the timing for that, as long as um, we can kind

[1:10:31] of condense that and employees are aware of that

[1:10:33] and can get that information to us,

[1:10:35] we can definitely condense the timeline,

[1:10:37] uh, by a month or two.

[1:10:40] Thank you so much. Yeah, that's old

[1:10:45] Lincoln. You have any

[1:10:46] Uh, thank you Mr. Chair. I'll

[1:10:47] always start by some things

[1:10:49] that I noted from looking through your proposal.

[1:10:51] I see 50 years of experience, 1200 professionals

[1:10:56] and over 30,000 projects delivered.

[1:10:59] Very impressive. Um,

[1:11:01] and I also noticed that you worked with Greenbelt Maryland,

[1:11:04] which is one of our neighbors on a city manager

[1:11:07] performance evaluation process.

[1:11:08] Can you speak to that a little bit and what that entailed?

[1:11:11] Yeah, absolutely. That was my colleague Charlene

[1:11:14] Stevens who is awesome.

[1:11:15] She leads our executive recruitment practice

[1:11:18] and she was part of that.

[1:11:20] So one of our services

[1:11:21] that we provide are city manager evaluations.

[1:11:24] So oftentimes, uh, you know, you have an HR director

[1:11:28] that's helping the council facilitate the city manager,

[1:11:32] city administrator evaluation.

[1:11:33] And that sometimes puts the HR director in a bad position

[1:11:36] because that's her supervisor

[1:11:38] and she's helping facilitate that evaluation.

[1:11:40] So we provide that as a third party service where we come in

[1:11:44] and work with council on evaluation of that position.

[1:11:49] So that's what we did for them.

[1:11:51] Awesome. Thank you for that explanation. Yeah.

[1:11:54] Um, I have a question about the post-study support.

[1:11:58] You mentioned that the window of opportunity

[1:12:00] for that is three months.

[1:12:02] If we had questions beyond that timeframe,

[1:12:04] would there be extra fees assessed

[1:12:06] or would we be able to ask

[1:12:07] questions beyond the three months?

[1:12:09] Yeah, I smile when you say that

[1:12:11] 'cause I have so many clients that it's way beyond

[1:12:13] that three month timeline.

[1:12:14] And I'm always here to answer questions.

[1:12:16] We wanna be able to, you know,

[1:12:18] if it's simple questions on a job, want us

[1:12:21] to re-look at something, confirm something, send an email,

[1:12:23] there's no additional charge for that.

[1:12:25] We're more than happy to, um, do that.

[1:12:28] Beyond that, the three months is really for like,

[1:12:30] if there's any substantial, you know, reclassifications

[1:12:34] or updating the report to reflect something,

[1:12:37] that's really what that's for.

[1:12:39] But any questions, phone call, email

[1:12:41] that are simple questions that we can answer,

[1:12:43] there's no charge for that.

[1:12:44] Beyond that, if there's some additional work,

[1:12:47] like let's say there's a brand new position

[1:12:49] and you want us to do the full evaluation of that position,

[1:12:53] there's a set fee for that that we could do that

[1:12:56] as an add-on service.

[1:12:57] But general questions about the work that we've done

[1:12:59] and has been done, there's no additional fee for

[1:13:01] that. Thank

[1:13:03] You. Last question

[1:13:04] I noticed, or more

[1:13:05] or less a comment, I noticed your price point is very good.

[1:13:08] 29,475.

[1:13:10] Is that pretty much standard

[1:13:12] for projects of this size and scope?

[1:13:14] So the community size and employee size of your project?

[1:13:18] I love it. I managed a community of similar size,

[1:13:21] similar number of employees.

[1:13:22] So, uh, I love the size of the community

[1:13:25] and the number of employees.

[1:13:26] It really allows us to do a deep dive

[1:13:29] and uh, talk to almost every employee

[1:13:32] and really understand, uh, the organization.

[1:13:35] So in terms of the price point for a community your size,

[1:13:37] that's definitely very average

[1:13:39] and uh, probably you're probably getting a little more

[1:13:43] with the organizational assessment

[1:13:44] and staffing within that price point.

[1:13:46] Usually full class and comp run around 20 to 30,000.

[1:13:51] Thank you very much for answering all my questions.

[1:13:53] I appreciate it. I have no further questions.

[1:13:54] Okay. I think I haven't gone to,

[1:13:56] Can I just ask one more question? Sure.

[1:13:58] Go ahead Cynthia. Do you have one

[1:14:00] contact person for us to contact,

[1:14:05] Um, like if we were awarded the

[1:14:07] study for when we start the project?

[1:14:08] Is that what you're asking? Yes.

[1:14:10] Do we have to call a different section

[1:14:12] for anything we wanted or is there one

[1:14:14] particular person Yep.

[1:14:16] That we would call and they would take

[1:14:18] that and get the answer?

[1:14:19] That's correct. You would have a project lead

[1:14:21] that would be your main point of contact.

[1:14:23] We have subject matter experts too.

[1:14:25] Um, that will help throughout the process.

[1:14:27] You know, we have a lot of our consultants, almost all

[1:14:30] of our consultants have worked in local government.

[1:14:32] So we have, you know, former police chiefs, fire chiefs,

[1:14:35] HR directors that we sometimes use

[1:14:37] as sub subject matter experts.

[1:14:39] But you have one main contact person, one project manager,

[1:14:42] project lead, that's your point person that you go to

[1:14:46] for all all questions.

[1:14:48] Alright, thank you. Thank you chairman. Sure. Brianna?

[1:14:53] Yes. Um, I, I, I think, uh, the, some

[1:14:55] of us have similar types of questions here

[1:14:58] and I'll just be blunt as I'm, that's

[1:15:00] how people would describe me if they've met me one time.

[1:15:03] Your price point is a lot lower than a lot

[1:15:05] of the other ones we've seen,

[1:15:06] which obviously makes you a very attractive candidate,

[1:15:09] but at the same time it's so much lower than some

[1:15:12] of the other ones that I'm, I'm kind of surprised.

[1:15:14] Do you think that that's based on the volume of work

[1:15:16] that you're, that your, um, firm does or,

[1:15:20] or the level of expertise, what,

[1:15:22] why do you think, you know mm-hmm.

[1:15:24] Obviously you're just speculating

[1:15:25] 'cause you have no idea how those other people came up

[1:15:27] with their numbers, but I'm just kind of curious

[1:15:28] what your thoughts are on that.

[1:15:30] Yeah, no, usually I don't hear that.

[1:15:33] So I'm like a little shocked by that.

[1:15:36] I, I think that the hours that we've allotted

[1:15:39] for this project allows us to complete the work

[1:15:41] and what you're looking for within the allotted hours.

[1:15:45] So I feel like we might, um, you know, by combining those,

[1:15:49] looking at the compensation, we might be a little lower than

[1:15:53] we typically are on some of those.

[1:15:55] But that's the numbers that we've quoted, the hours

[1:15:57] that we've allotted, I think we can

[1:15:58] do the work and do it well.

[1:16:00] Again, this is the work that we do every day

[1:16:02] and we love doing this type of work.

[1:16:05] And another thing kind of along the same lines,

[1:16:06] let's say it takes us way more hours

[1:16:09] that we're not charging you more

[1:16:10] because this is the price

[1:16:11] that we quoted within the proposal.

[1:16:13] So there's not an increase in that fee for you.

[1:16:16] Alright. And then I have an additional question

[1:16:18] that I just asked the, the last, um, uh, presenter,

[1:16:22] so you might have had the benefit of hearing their answer.

[1:16:24] Um, the, what the catalyst for this effort

[1:16:27] for this engagement is

[1:16:29] that the council only recently became aware of

[1:16:32] what the salaries are for each individual employee working

[1:16:35] for the city prior to this, um, to this mayor taking office.

[1:16:39] Uh, it was not clear to the council

[1:16:42] how much each individual employee was making other than the

[1:16:45] directors of the various agencies.

[1:16:47] All of the salaries were kind

[1:16:48] of lumped into an employee services bucket, so it would say,

[1:16:51] you know, $3 million

[1:16:52] and we didn't really know how that broke down.

[1:16:54] And what led us to wanna take action on this was

[1:16:58] that several, uh, council members and staff

[1:17:00] and residents felt that some

[1:17:02] of these salaries were too high,

[1:17:03] which I think is probably not the norm in terms of

[1:17:06] what sets this work off.

[1:17:08] I I think that oftentimes folks wanna make sure

[1:17:11] that their city is retaining good employees

[1:17:13] and recruit able to recruit competitively.

[1:17:15] In our situation we may be lowering salaries.

[1:17:19] Um, have you had experience with that sort of element

[1:17:22] and how did that go when you had that experience?

[1:17:25] Yeah, so we have done many studies over,

[1:17:28] and I've been with MGT for almost seven years all on, um,

[1:17:32] classification and compensation, staffing and org analysis.

[1:17:35] And over that time I should have a better number of

[1:17:38] how many studies I've completed.

[1:17:40] And you're right, a majority

[1:17:41] of the time we see the opposite end

[1:17:42] where we're bringing employees up to minimum,

[1:17:44] we're making recommendations

[1:17:46] because they're being paid below market.

[1:17:48] But there's a handful of times

[1:17:49] and within studies where we see the opposite,

[1:17:52] where employees are being paid outside

[1:17:53] of the market for the position.

[1:17:55] And that shows, you know, if some,

[1:17:57] if a specific employee is being paid outside

[1:18:00] of the market range, then you know, we need to address that.

[1:18:03] And the way that we always recommend to our clients

[1:18:06] to address that is in a consistent manner, right?

[1:18:08] So you can't do for one person

[1:18:11] that you're not gonna do for the other.

[1:18:12] So however many you have outside of that market range,

[1:18:15] you're gonna have a consistent

[1:18:17] approach on how you address that.

[1:18:18] And what that looks like depends on the client

[1:18:20] and the needs of the client.

[1:18:22] So sometimes clients will say, we're gonna keep them there,

[1:18:24] but understand, you know, their salary's frozen until

[1:18:27] that market range catches up.

[1:18:29] And what that looks like, depending on

[1:18:31] how many years the employee's been there,

[1:18:33] how many people they have over the max, they might continue

[1:18:36] to give them the increases,

[1:18:37] but understand when that person leaves the position,

[1:18:39] they're gonna be brought in within the

[1:18:41] range where they should be.

[1:18:43] So again, every client is a little bit different

[1:18:45] on how that's approached.

[1:18:46] Our biggest thing when we work

[1:18:48] with our clients is making sure it's a consistent manner

[1:18:51] and how to handle that.

[1:18:53] Thank you so much. That was a wonderful answer.

[1:18:55] I have no other questions.

[1:18:57] Okay. I got everyone right Rachel, I want to, um, uh,

[1:19:02] tell you that I was um, I was struck by your comment on

[1:19:06] services being delivered

[1:19:08] because I think we elected officials all have

[1:19:10] to keep in mind that we are part of an organization

[1:19:14] that's goal is to provide services to the residents

[1:19:18] and that the people we serve.

[1:19:19] So, uh, I appreciated that comment.

[1:19:22] You made another comment there about looking at

[1:19:25] per capita income.

[1:19:26] And if you look at new Carrollton,

[1:19:28] and I'm not gonna quote numbers now,

[1:19:30] I don't have 'em memorized, but in general, the, uh,

[1:19:33] a large part of our staff makes substantially higher

[1:19:36] salaries than the people who live in the city.

[1:19:38] And some of the people here are, uh,

[1:19:40] are not too happy to see that.

[1:19:42] So that's just one situation that, uh, did you um,

[1:19:46] do you see any correlation in the work you've done between

[1:19:50] per capita, uh, income

[1:19:52] and what the city should be paying its employees?

[1:19:56] That's a great question.

[1:19:57] I'm not sure if I looked at specifically any correlation,

[1:20:00] but I will say as part of our process,

[1:20:02] we have conversations on where the city should be

[1:20:06] and what pay percentile makes sense

[1:20:08] based on the economic environment,

[1:20:11] the financial ability of the city.

[1:20:13] So we do have those conversations, you know,

[1:20:15] and looking at the 50th percentile

[1:20:17] or where we always start with that as a benchmark

[1:20:20] and then have those conversations.

[1:20:21] We have some clients

[1:20:22] and some communities that wanna pay above that, some

[1:20:25] that aren't even at the 50th.

[1:20:26] So we work with them on a structure to bring them there

[1:20:30] and show different.

[1:20:31] So I think that correlates to kind

[1:20:34] of the environment of the community.

[1:20:36] But I've never looked specifically

[1:20:37] as if it relates to per capita income.

[1:20:39] I'm gonna do that now.

[1:20:41] Well, you do it if we hire you here.

[1:20:44] Yes, I will. Um,

[1:20:47] and let's see, uh, we have, when we meet with the public

[1:20:51] and now that some of this information

[1:20:52] that Brianna pointed out hasn't been seen

[1:20:54] because it's been lumped

[1:20:55] and now we look to some of the details, so much

[1:20:58] of the public that comes to our meetings is,

[1:20:59] wow, please hire me.

[1:21:01] I had no idea we're paying these people that much

[1:21:03] to run this small town.

[1:21:04] So, um, the, um, see, made a note.

[1:21:09] I can't read my writing, but do you have a, do you have

[1:21:11] that low price tag but you're gonna have to do some travel.

[1:21:13] Do you expect a lot of travel

[1:21:15] and that's an addition to the 29,000?

[1:21:17] That's correct. That is an addition.

[1:21:19] We're happy to travel. I'm very happy to travel.

[1:21:22] We, um, can be there as many times as you would want.

[1:21:26] You know, pre COVID, we used to travel for everything.

[1:21:28] The employee interviews, the employee kickoff meeting,

[1:21:31] the council presentation after that.

[1:21:33] We've had a lot of success in doing it virtual

[1:21:35] and it does save, um, money of course,

[1:21:38] but I do understand it also helps to be in person.

[1:21:42] So we could have discussions during

[1:21:43] that initial kickoff meeting on what phases

[1:21:46] or what time makes sense for us to come in person

[1:21:49] and we're happy to do that.

[1:21:51] That would be additional

[1:21:52] and it would just be, uh, travel expenses

[1:21:55] that would be charged for that.

[1:21:57] And I could read my writing now.

[1:21:58] I just wanted to point out, we had a compensation study done

[1:22:01] nine years ago by a company called the Mercer Group.

[1:22:04] And one of the things they came away with,

[1:22:06] they adjusted the salaries.

[1:22:07] And as you mentioned, some went up, some were frozen,

[1:22:10] some were told you're not gonna get a

[1:22:11] and some people were happy and some people were not.

[1:22:13] But I remember that I was in the council way back then.

[1:22:16] I'm an ancient person around here and,

[1:22:18] and the, uh, I remember the guy from Mercer saying,

[1:22:20] we've looked at new Carrollton, you have the best, uh,

[1:22:24] benefits package we've seen anywhere in the country.

[1:22:27] So we have a wonderful benefits

[1:22:28] package here in addition to that.

[1:22:29] So keep that in mind if we choose you,

[1:22:31] if you look at our, at our study.

[1:22:32] But that, um, that's all I have.

[1:22:34] Anybody else before we let Rachel go?

[1:22:39] No, but thank you. Yeah, thank

[1:22:41] You. Thank you,

[1:22:42] thank you so much.

[1:22:43] And thanks to um, whoever organized it,

[1:22:46] the instructions were very clear.

[1:22:47] I appreciate all of that

[1:22:48] and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

[1:22:51] Have a great evening.

[1:22:53] Thank you Rachel. Good evening. Thank

[1:22:55] You. Thanks.

[1:22:56] Okay. No, I, if I go back to the agenda,

[1:22:58] we've done the council announcements,

[1:23:00] but Brianna, I've been thinking a little bit

[1:23:02] about your comment and I agree.

[1:23:03] Um, I can put that on.

[1:23:05] I'm just gonna adjust the agenda accordingly

[1:23:07] because I, I envision, uh, people having a lot

[1:23:11] to say, I have a lot to process.

[1:23:12] I couldn't vote on this tonight.

[1:23:14] And I think people will have a lot

[1:23:15] of thoughts the next time we meet.

[1:23:16] And I wanted to set aside

[1:23:17] an hour where that's all we thought about.

[1:23:19] But I'm willing to put it on the agenda for the Wednesday

[1:23:22] and maybe, maybe we can do it it in 15 minutes,

[1:23:25] but if it turns into an hour,

[1:23:26] I'll just cut things off the agenda.

[1:23:27] 'cause I think this council may want

[1:23:28] to discuss this at great length.

[1:23:30] There've been some very good responses from six very good

[1:23:33] organizations and we need

[1:23:34] to process this carefully before we take a vote.

[1:23:36] Price is one thing, but this was a very

[1:23:38] quality firm too, in my view.

[1:23:39] So we have, uh, a lot to think about.

[1:23:41] Uh, with that said, Mr.

[1:23:43] Nelly, Nelly has her virtual handout.

[1:23:45] I'm sorry, Agnel, I didn't see it. Please

[1:23:47] Take the, um, this process is driven by

[1:23:52] concerns identified by the council.

[1:23:55] However, before making a vote, I would like to hear

[1:24:00] from the city manager

[1:24:02] and the mayor about which of the proposals

[1:24:06] they see fitting the needs of the city

[1:24:10] because they will be tasked

[1:24:12] with implementing the recommendations.

[1:24:15] And so, uh, would like to, um, allocate some time to hear,

[1:24:21] um, che speak to a recommended proposal

[1:24:26] Tonight? Or you wanna give

[1:24:27] her time to process too?

[1:24:28] No, when, when we get to the discussion,

[1:24:31] because she also needs time to process this.

[1:24:35] Absolutely. And I thought next Wednesday is soon enough

[1:24:37] and the following Wednesday is certainly soon enough.

[1:24:40] That gives us two full weeks to think about it.

[1:24:43] But I just wanna make sure that we

[1:24:45] as a group allow enough time for everyone

[1:24:47] to express their concerns

[1:24:48] and have time to have a very serious, uh, vote that comes up

[1:24:52] with the best candidate here.

[1:24:53] It's a very difficult choice that I see it right now

[1:24:56] and I have to do some more studying.

[1:24:57] Mm-hmm. So Cynthia,

[1:24:58] when you get back in town, I have your packet.

[1:25:00] We'll get it to you so you can read all the details

[1:25:02] and, and print a copy. With that said,

[1:25:05] I'm here.

[1:25:06] I have your packet, but I have it in my house.

[1:25:08] I'll give it to the printed copy in

[1:25:10] case you wanna look through these proposals. Yes,

[1:25:12] I'm gonna go, I was, I was gonna go

[1:25:13] to the office tomorrow, but if, if, if you have, well, okay.

[1:25:17] I made a mistake and grabbed

[1:25:18] papers and I took it to my house.

[1:25:19] I was gonna bring it back tonight

[1:25:20] and I, uh, I left it at my house.

[1:25:22] Okay. You could have mine. Mine's full of all my notes.

[1:25:25] So, um, with that said,

[1:25:28] Mr. Chair, yes,

[1:25:29] I think it would be good

[1:25:30] for our discussion at the future meeting for us to rank

[1:25:33] for ourselves, uh, you know, one through six

[1:25:36] how we felt about the performances that way.

[1:25:38] I think that will guide the discussion.

[1:25:40] 'cause if several of us rank the same ones very low

[1:25:43] or very high, I think that that could narrow the focus.

[1:25:46] So if, I don't know, I I'm just posing that out there

[1:25:48] as a way to, to, to kick off that discussion

[1:25:51] and make it expeditious.

[1:25:52] Well, you're posing it

[1:25:53] and I'll make that an assignment and I will do it.

[1:25:56] Okay. And if, if you can please rank them how you see it

[1:25:59] and then have a reason for that.

[1:26:01] But if each of us goes to the ranking gives our reasons.

[1:26:03] I'm not seeing a five minute discussion, but that's fine.

[1:26:06] I agree, Brianna. Alright, we can move to

[1:26:08] residents concerns if anyone wants to go to the podium.

[1:26:11] We have a large audience tonight on cell phone.

[1:26:15] We have some hands online I guess.

[1:26:16] And people have been following us.

[1:26:18] How many participants tonight? Maisha? Um,

[1:26:22] We have 14 people online.

[1:26:24] Anybody wanna make a comment about, uh, the selection

[1:26:27] of a consultant? The majority

[1:26:29] Of the people online work for the city of New Carrollton?

[1:26:31] Yeah, I was gonna say, but I think

[1:26:33] the majority of them are us.

[1:26:35] Okay. Well we, uh, we can get outta here a little bit

[1:26:38] earlier then the next meeting as it turns out,

[1:26:40] we'll be after the holiday.

[1:26:42] It'll be a Wednesday and I will not schedule

[1:26:45] it to meet next week.

[1:26:46] Then we'll just plan to fit this into that meeting.

[1:26:48] And, um, Caitlyn will tell me what else needs to be in

[1:26:51] that agenda next week.

[1:26:53] I, Nelly has her hand up again.

[1:26:54] When, what's more? All right,

[1:26:55] Nelly. Um,

[1:26:56] I'm sorry, I,

[1:26:59] I missed some things since the original idea

[1:27:02] of meeting next week was scrap

[1:27:05] and we're discussing it on Wednesday the 18th.

[1:27:09] When are we voting on the 18th? On the 18th?

[1:27:15] Yeah. I don't like, I don't like that idea.

[1:27:17] I wanted just to have a discussion and, and vote,

[1:27:20] but since uh, Brianna suggested we rank them all,

[1:27:23] maybe we'll be ready on the 18th.

[1:27:25] Um, the sooner we vote,

[1:27:26] the sooner we can choose somebody of course.

[1:27:28] And get them in here working. So let's plan on voting on the

[1:27:30] 18th unless anything interferes with that.

[1:27:32] Is that okay?

[1:27:35] Yes. Um, I'm interested in making a decision

[1:27:39] so the city can engage and sign a contract

[1:27:43] and set that kickoff meeting

[1:27:45] because I am, I cannot

[1:27:50] at the moment visualize how the timeline

[1:27:55] for the project will help us get

[1:27:59] to an approved budget before July 1st

[1:28:03] because I don't see enough time.

[1:28:06] Um, and how can we make informed decisions for the future?

[1:28:10] But that's not conversation for today.

[1:28:12] Um, so the important thing is

[1:28:14] to get it going and get it out the door.

[1:28:16] That's fine. I can take care of myself.

[1:28:19] Okay. Now in the packets, there are contacts at each

[1:28:23] of these places that if you feel you have a question

[1:28:25] that they can answer about that, feel free.

[1:28:27] We interacted with 'em tonight,

[1:28:28] but you can call them one-on-one too. Okay?

[1:28:29] Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

[1:28:31] Is that legal? Whatever you tell one contractor, you have

[1:28:35] to make sure that all of 'em have the same answer.

[1:28:38] That's not illegal. No, this is specific.

[1:28:40] If I have a specific question for Bolton that doesn't relate

[1:28:43] to MRC, if I have a question that he said something on, ask

[1:28:47] what he meant, I think then I think Brown is right.

[1:28:49] There's nothing illegal about contacting a vendor.

[1:28:54] Alright. That would be my advice

[1:28:56] and I plan to do the same if questions come up that I feel

[1:28:59] that I've missed something and I think you'd find

[1:29:01] that all six of the presenters would be eager to share

[1:29:03] with us any additional information on the project.

[1:29:05] Just prepared to take some time to listen to themselves.

[1:29:07] To listen.

[1:29:09] There is one hand up.

[1:29:10] Virtually, uh, Ms. Shirley Brown has her hand up.

[1:29:13] Okay, let's here. Ms. Shirley Brown.

[1:29:19] Honor,

[1:29:20] Take yourself off mute,

[1:29:26] Ms. Brown, if you're speaking we can't hear you.

[1:29:33] You have to hit the, the mic with the line

[1:29:35] Through it. I got

[1:29:36] it. Good. Madam Mayor

[1:29:39] and council members, how are you all doing today?

[1:29:43] We're well. Great.

[1:29:46] I really enjoyed the presentations of all six

[1:29:50] of the groups that you had between Monday and today.

[1:29:56] I just, just one thing, um, I didn't, I wasn't clear on

[1:30:01] when they were asked to come, if they're

[1:30:07] in comparing the different, um, cities around us

[1:30:12] in terms of compensations

[1:30:14] or if the likelihood of

[1:30:19] the compensations being equal

[1:30:22] or close to, to make um, their recommendations from.

[1:30:27] I did not hear anything mention of Montgomery County.

[1:30:31] Are they also looking at Montgomery County?

[1:30:35] And that's all I have to ask.

[1:30:38] You know, I think I'd let Brianna answer that one

[1:30:40] 'cause she's been following that closely.

[1:30:42] Brianna, I think they said they

[1:30:43] were gonna look all around, right?

[1:30:44] Yeah, I heard that too.

[1:30:45] And then also, so it's interesting about Montgomery County

[1:30:49] is that they have two gigantic municipalities

[1:30:52] and several teeny, teeny, teeny tiny municipalities.

[1:30:55] And so I think it would be hard

[1:30:56] to find a peer city in Montgomery County.

[1:31:00] Tacoma Park would probably be the closest in size,

[1:31:03] but their budget is six times our,

[1:31:06] so I would not say that they were up here.

[1:31:09] Um, but you have Rockville

[1:31:10] and Gaithersburg, which are gigantic conglomerate cities.

[1:31:14] And then you have teeny tiny towns like, like, uh,

[1:31:17] Only North Chevy Chase, which has like 12 people in it.

[1:31:22] It would be, but that would be up to the consultant.

[1:31:24] Alright. Yeah, the general don't answer question,

[1:31:26] but I thought Brianna might have something to say on that.

[1:31:28] Um, uh, I'm ready to, uh,

[1:31:30] to take a motion to adjourn for the evening. I'm sorry.

[1:31:33] I do wanna remind everyone,

[1:31:34] since we're not gonna have a council meeting on Tuesday,

[1:31:38] February 17th, please join us at the library for the, the,

[1:31:42] the tool, um, safe Streets Public Hearing from

[1:31:48] starting at six o'clock at the new Carrollton Library.

[1:31:51] And I didn't include that in my announcement.

[1:31:52] I should have the reason that News Tuesday is not good

[1:31:54] for us to replace the Monday, that's the holidays

[1:31:56] because the city has another function we're on

[1:31:58] that the council members should attend.

[1:32:00] So please make a note of that in your calendar

[1:32:02] and we'll meet again on Wednesday.

[1:32:03] Okay. Thank You Isha,

[1:32:05] thank you for helping me clarify that.

[1:32:06] If we have a motion to adjourn,

[1:32:08] I'll go home. Mr. Chair, move

[1:32:09] We adjourn.

[1:32:11] I second I third

[1:32:14] Cynthia in there. And

[1:32:15] all in favor? Aye.

[1:32:18] Aye. I think we got it.

[1:32:20] And I'll apologize in advance.

[1:32:21] They won't be able to attend that town hall

[1:32:23] because I got free Trevor Noah tickets, so.

[1:32:27] Oh. I'll be thinking of you

[1:32:28] as I'm laughing hysterically at the work. Trevor.

[1:32:30] No, he does an awesome show. Love you.

[1:32:35] I've seen him a couple times. He's awesome.

[1:32:37] Oh, that's awesome. Andres works at the

[1:32:38] Warner, so he got his free tickets

[1:32:41] Outstanding. Enjoy everybody.

[1:32:43] Have a good night. Stay safe,

[1:32:45] Stay warm.

02.04.2026 City Council Workshop Meeting

Transcript